Conventional gun sight attachments in the form of “dove tail” joints are generally employed in semiautomatic pistols and other small arms. Dove tail joints are usually machined in the pistol slide transverse to the gun axis, providing clamping of the sight in vertical direction with the sight prevented from lateral and transverse movement by the contact of the dove tail walls. This arrangement, while providing a solid coupling between the pistol slide and the annexed sight, is expensive because of the required close tolerances. Furthermore, such dove tails require special tools to assemble and disassemble the sights. Should the machined tolerances be inadequate, the shocks and vibrations of shooting inevitably will lead to the loosening and possible failure of attachment.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a gun sight attachment mechanism which makes the sight simple to assemble with and to disassemble from the pistol, with no special tools or skills required. The new mechanism is very simple, inexpensive, and permits alternative materials such as plastics to be employed for the gun sights. The new mechanism uses detent balls which lockingly register with sockets formed in the slide when engaged by a sliding lock pin. Detachment is achieved by removal of the lock pin.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention and its attendant advantages, reference should be made to the drawings in conjunction with the detailed description of the invention.